YELLOWSTONE Circular of General Information 1936

YELLOWSTONE
National Park

THE YELLOWSTONE, probably the best known of our national parks, was created by an act of March 1, 1872. It was originally rectangular in shape, 62 miles long and 54 miles wide, but an act of March 1, 1929, revised its boundaries on the east and north sides, giving it an irregular shape, and adding to its acreage. On Oct. 20, 1932, President Hoover signed a proclamation adding approximately 6,124 acres along the north line, near Gardiner, Mont., which now gives the park an area of about 3,471 square miles or approximately 2,221,772 acres. It is under the control and supervision of the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior.

This park is located in northwestern Wyoming, encroaching slightly upon Montana and Idaho. It is our largest national park. The central portion is essentially a broad, elevated, volcanic plateau, between 7,000 and 8,500 feet above sea level, and with an average elevation of about 8,000 feet. Surrounding it on the south, east, north, and northwest are mountain ranges with culminating peaks and ridges, rising from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the general level of the enclosed tableland.

Its geysers are celebrated the world over, because, for size, power, and variety of action, as well as number, the region has no competitor. New Zealand, which ranks second, and Iceland, where the word "geyser" originated, possess the only other geyser basins of prominence, but both together do not offer the visitor what he may see in 2 or 3 days in Yellowstone. Indeed, the spectacle is one of extraordinary novelty. There are few spots in the world where one is so strongly possessed by emotions of wonder and mystery. The visitor is powerfully impressed by a sense of nearness to nature's secret laboratories. Practically the entire region is volcanic. Not only the surrounding mountains but the great interior plain are made of material once ejected, as ash and lava, from depths far below the surface. Positive evidence of Yellowstone's volcanic origin is apparent to all in the black glass of Obsidian Cliff, the whorled and contorted breccias along the road near the top of Mount Washburn, and the brilliantly colored decomposed lava walls of the Grand Canyon. For a long time the chief public interest in Yellowstone centered around its spouting geysers and similar uncanny wonders of a dying volcanic region. Now that good roads and trails have made this great wilderness accessible, its beautiful forests, trout-filled lakes and streams, and its wild animal population attract as many visitors as the volcanic wonders.

Old Faithful. Haynes photo.

THE GEYSERS

There are about 3,000 geysers and hot springs in the park. Most of them are located in the six principal geyser basins, the Norris, Lower, Midway, Upper, Heart Lake, and Shoshone Basins, all lying in the west and south central parts of the park. The geysers exhibit a large variety of character and action. Some, like Old Faithful, Daisy, and Riverside, spout at quite regular intervals; others are irregular. Some burst upward with immense power; others shoot streams at angles or bubble and foam in action.

Geysers occur only at places where the high temperatures of the depths of the earth approach close to the surface. Much of the heat and an appreciable amount of gas and steam are added from considerable depths. Water from the surface trickling through cracks in the rocks, or water from subterranean seeps collecting in the geyser's plumbing down in the region of intense heat, becomes itself intensely heated and forms steam, which expands and forces upward the cooler water that lies above it.

It is then that the water at the surface of the geyser begins to bubble and gives off clouds of vapor, a sign that the geyser is about to play.

The tube or plumbing of the geyser must be crooked or constricted sufficiently to prevent easy circulation of the water. With continued heat being applied from below, the water in the bottom of the geyser's tube expands so that the less heated column above can no longer weigh it down, then water bubbles over and relieves the pressure of the superheated water below, which suddently flashes into steam, pushing the entire mass upward in an eruption. Then the water and the vapor rise many feet into the air and continue to play until practically all of the geyser is cleared. The water, cooled and falling back to the ground, runs off or with other water, seeps into the ground to gather as before in the geyser's depth, in a greater or less time becomes heated to the explosion point, and the geyser erupts again.

Naturally, each geyser has a different plumbing, and it follows that it has a different behavior. In the geyser basins the material making up the walls of the cracks and tubes of the geysers is of silica, and strong enough to withstand the explosive action of the steam. A less strong material, such as travertine, will not withstand this explosive action, and, hence, will not produce geysers.

One may readily make a geyser in the laboratory with a test tube, a little water, and a Bunsen burner. A geyser model may be seen at Old Faithful Museum. The water at the base of the tube in this geyser is heated by an electric element, and the geyser plays at short, regular intervals. After an eruption the water drains back into the bulb by another tube, where it remains until it becomes sufficiently hot to repeat the performance.

OTHER HOT-WATER PHENOMENA

Nearly the entire Yellowstone region is remarkable for its hot-water phenomena. The more prominent geysers are confined to three basins lying near each other in the west central part of the park, but other hot water manifestations occur at more widely separated points. Marvelously colored hot springs, mud volcanoes, and other strange phenomena are frequent.

In certain areas hot water has brought to the surface quantities of white mineral deposits which build high terraces of beautifully incrusted basins, often engulfing trees of considerable size. The hot water flows over the edges of these fretted basins.

Microscopic plants called algae grow on the edges and sides of these basins, decorating them with hues of red, pink, tan, brown, and bluish gray, which glow brilliantly. Other plants, microscopic in size, known as "diatoms", occur singly or in colonies clinging to the sides or to the algae themselves. At many other points lesser hot springs occur, introducing strange, almost uncanny, elements into wooded and otherwise quite normal landscapes.

Excelsior Geyser Basin overflow on Firehole River. Haynes photo.

A tour of these hot-water formations and spouting geysers is an experience never to be forgotten. Some of the geysers play at quite regular intervals. For many years the celebrated Old Faithful has played with average regularity every 65 minutes. Some of the largest geysers play at irregular intervals of days, weeks, or months. Some very small ones play every few minutes. Many bubbling hot springs, which throw water 2 or 3 feet into the air once or twice a minute, are really small geysers.

The hot-spring terraces are also an awe-inspiring spectacle. Well-marked trails wind their way everywhere among the steaming pools. Visitors should keep on the solid trails, as in many places the crust is thin and walking on it is extremely dangerous. In certain lights the surface of these pools appears vividly colored. The deeper hot pools are often intensely blue. The incrustations are in many instances beautifully crystallized. Clumps of grass, and even flowers, which have been submerged in the charged waters, become exquisitely plated as if with frosted silver.

YELLOWSTONE LAKE

Yellowstone Lake is itself a scenic attraction of the first order. It covers 138 square miles and is the largest lake in North America at so great an altitude (7,731 feet). its greatest depth is over 300 feet, and it has a shore line of approximately 100 miles. At West Thumb are paintpots and colored hot pools of great beauty. The United States fish hatchery is located along the main road on the north side of the lake not far from Lake Ranger Station.

At the outlet of the lake is located the famous Fishing Bridge. Since the lake abounds in native or cutthroat trout (Salmo lewisi), many fish are caught here and in the other waters of the park each season. East of the Fishing Bridge about 1/4 mile, and on the lake shore, is a beautiful museum featuring the biology and geology of the lake region.

Tower Falls. Grant photo.

GRAND CANYON OF THE YELLOWSTONE

But the geysers and hot-water formations are by no means the only wonders in the Yellowstone. Indeed, the entire park is a wonderland. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone affords a spectacle worthy of a national park were there no geysers. But the grand canyons, of which there are several in our wonderful western country, are not to be confused. Of these, by far the largest and most impressive is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in Arizona. That is the one always meant when people speak of visiting "The Grand Canyon" without designating a location. It is the giant of canyons.

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is altogether different. Great though its size, it is much the smaller of the two. What makes it a scenic feature of the first order is its really marvelous coloring. It is the cameo of canyons.

Standing upon Inspiration Point, which pushes out almost to the center of the canyon, one seems to look almost vertically down upon the foaming Yellowstone River. To the southwest a waterfall, twice the height of Niagara, rushes seemingly out of the pine-clad hills and plunges downward, to be lost from view behind a projecting parapet of the canyon wall. From that point to where one stands a glorious panorama widens out. The steep slopes, dropping on either side some 750 feet from the pine-topped levels above, are inconceivably carved and fretted by the frost and the erosion of the ages. Sometimes they lie in straight lines at easy angles, from which jut high rocky prominences. Sometimes they lie in huge hollows carved from the side walls. Here and there jagged rocky needles rise perpendicularly for hundreds of feet like groups of gothic spires.

The dominant color of the canyon, especially when viewed on a sunshiny day, is yellow or even glaringly white in places, although a great variety of colors can be seen on closer inspection. In the morning or evening or on a cloudy day the colors may be seen in more striking contrast, and the profusion of tints presents an incomparable picture framed in the green of the surrounding forest. It is a spectacle which one looks upon in silence.

There are several spots from which fine partial views may be had, but no person can say he has really seen the canyon who has not stood upon Inspiration Point, on the north rim, and upon Artist Point, across the gorge.

DUNRAVEN PASS AND TOWER FALLS

From the canyon the visitor follows the road northward to Tower Falls on his way to Mammoth Hot Springs and views some of the most inspiring scenery in America. The crossing of Dunraven Pass or the ascent of Mount Washburn are events which will linger long in vivid memory.

A few miles farther north, at Tower Falls, where the road again approaches the canyon of the Yellowstone River, scenery which has few equals is encountered. The river's gorge at this point, the falls of Tower Creek, and the palisades of basaltic rock far above the foaming Yellowstone are picturesque to a high degree.

FOSSIL FORESTS

The fossil forests are located over extensive areas in the northern part of the park. The two most prominent areas are in the newly acquired region on the northwest, known as the "Gallatin Petrified Forests", and in the northeast, known as the "Yellowstone-Lamar River Petrified Forests."

These areas are not as impressive as the term "forests" might imply. They are not readily accessible to the visitor, with the exception of one small area in the vicinity of the petrified tree, on a branch road, six-tenths of a mile from the main road between Tower Junction and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The petrified trees prove to be different species from those growing in the park today. They included broad-leaved species, such as laurel, sycamore, and oak, as well as pines and sequoias, showing that a much warmer climate existed at the time of their growth.

Needles near Tower Falls. Haynes photo.

There is evidence that volcanoes came into existence, hurling out masses of eruptive fragments accompanied by great clouds of volcanic dust. This dust settled down upon the standing trees until they were buried. Water seeped through this dust and into the buried trees, carrying with it silica from the volcanic ash. The woody structure of the trees was dissolved and the silica was deposited in its place. The petrified tree which we now see contains none of the original wood of the tree, but is merely a reproduction in rock of the original form of the tree, in many cases cell for cell.

In some places trained observers can distinguish a succession of forests, 12 in number, one above the other, representing the repetition of this process 12 times—with the intervening periods of volcanic quiescence during which forests grew up, only to be covered and in time petrified. This process must have taken thousands upon thousands of years.

SYLVAN PASS AND RED CANYON OF THE SHOSHONE

The road over Sylvan Pass is one of the scenic features of Yellowstone Park. East of the park boundary the road passes through a red-walled canyon so vividly colored and so remarkably carved by the frosts and the erosion of ages that its passage imprints itself indelibly upon memory. It is no wonder that a hundred curious names have been fastened upon these fantastic rock shapes silhouetted against the sky.

And miles farther on, where the united forks of the Shoshone won a precipitous way through enormous walls of rock, the Shoshone Dam, one of the highest in the United States, holds back for irrigation a large and deep lake of water and creates, through partnership of man and nature, a spectacle of grandeur perhaps unequaled of its kind. The road, which shelves and tunnels down the canyon, forcing a division of space with the imprisoned river, is one of the sensational drives of the West.

RED LODGE-COOKE ROAD

This new Federal approach highway to Yellowstone, leading from Red Lodge to Cooke, Mont., traverses some 60 miles of rugged area previously accessible only by horseback. The road leads southward from Red Lodge up Rock Creek Valley. Then comes a sensational switchback climb to the plateau region. From the Rock Creek Canyon floor the motorist climbs up the twisting mountain highway to an altitude of 10,940 feet. Many glacial lakes dot the high areas, the visitor being able to glimpse 32 of these from a single point along the route. Fish abound in the cold mountain lakes and streams. The road leads from the summit through a section of Wyoming and back into Montana to the picturesque little mining town of Cooke, 4 miles from the northeast entrance of the Yellowstone and continues into the park and through the Soda Butte and Lamar Valleys, joining the Grand Loop Highway at Tower Junction.

Rocky Mountain mule deer. Dixon photo.

GREAT WILDLIFE REFUGE

The Yellowstone National Park is one of the largest and most successful wildlife refuges in the world. For this reason it is also an excellent and accessible field for nature study.

Its 3,471 square miles of mountains and valleys remain nearly as nature made them. The more than 300 miles of roads and the hotels, lodges, and auto camps are as nothing in this immense wilderness. No tree has been cut except when absolutely necessary for road, trail, or camp. No herds of domestic animals invade its valleys. Visitors for the most part keep to the beaten road, and the wild animals have learned in the years that they mean them no harm. To be sure they are not always seen by the people in automobiles which move from point to point daily during the season; but the quiet watcher on the trails may see deer and bear and elk and antelope and he may even see mountain sheep, moose, and bison by journeying on foot or by horseback into their distant retreats. In the fall and spring, when the crowds are absent, wild deer gather in great numbers around headquarters to crop the grass. One of the diversions at the road builder's camp in the wilderness is cultivating the acquaintance of the animals.

Grizzly bears on Canyon feeding ground platform. Haynes photo.

Thus one of the most interesting lessons from the Yellowstone is that wild animals are fearful and dangerous only when treated as game or as enemies. Even the big grizzlies, which are generally believed to be ferocious, are proved by experience in national parks to be inoffensive if not molested. When attacked, however, they become fierce antagonists.

It is not only extremely dangerous but contrary to the park regulations to feed, molest, touch, or tease the bears.

The brown, cinnamon, and black bears, which are color phases of the one species—the blondes and brunettes of the same family so to speak—are numerous in the park.

While apparently friendly, it should be remembered that these bears, too, are wild animals and should be treated as such.

This wild-animal paradise contains several thousand elk, a few hundred moose, many deer and antelope, numerous bands of mountain sheep, and a herd of approximately a thousand buffalo.

It is an excellent bird sanctuary also, where more than 200 species live natural, undisturbed lives. Eagles may be seen among the crags. Wild geese and ducks are found in profusion. Many large, white swans and pelicans add to the picturesqueness of the Yellowstone Lake.

Bears are seen daily in summer at the feeding grounds at Canyon and occasionally along the roads. Moose are seen quite often, especially in the evenings. Mountain sheep are seen sometimes on Mount Washburn. Elk remain in the mountains above 8,000 feet and can usually be seen on hiking or horseback trips. Deer are frequently along roads and trails and antelope may nearly always be found near the north entrance. Beaver may be seen in the evenings along the ranger nature trail at Mammoth Hot Springs and at other sections in the park.

In winter elk, mule deer, antelope, and mountain sheep may be viewed at close range along the north line of the park and a lover of wild animals may be well repaid for taking a trip to Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs to see them. Many persons find the animals more interesting at this season than in summer.

One of the thousand buffalo which inhabit the park.

TREES

In Yellowstone Park, as everywhere in the West, the trees are nearly all "evergreens", or members of the pine family. In most parts of the East the forests are composed of broad-leafed deciduous trees.

Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), sometimes known as "jack pine." The most common tree of the park, abundant at low and middle altitudes and extending nearly up to timberline; probably three-fourths of the forest of the park is composed of this tree. The pines are distinguished from other evergreen trees by having their long slender leaves in bundles of two or more instead of being attached singly to the branches. In the lodgepole pine there are two leaves in each bundle.

Limber pine (Pinus flexilis), in the West often known as "white pine." Occasional at low and middle altitudes, chiefly on dry, rocky ridges, the trees usually scattered among those of other kinds. Leaves five in each bundle; cones 3 to 6 inches long, green when young, golden brown and opening when mature; bark dark brown, rough.

White-bark pine (Pinus albicaulis), found only about timberline. Leaves five in each bundle; cones 1 to 3 inches long, brown-purple when young, remaining closed when mature; bark thin, whitish, scaly. Medium size tree except on adverse slopes.

Firs. The firs have flat, blunt-tipped, or notched leaves 1 to 2 inches long. The cones are borne at the top of the tree, and they stand erect on the branches like candles on a Christmas tree; when ripe they fall apart. The bark of the firs is smooth and pale, and scattered over it are numerous blisters filled with liquid resin.

Alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), common about timberline and also at middle altitudes. Leaves rounded at the tip, not notched; those of the lower branches appearing two-ranked because of the twisted petioles. About timberline usually stunted and often lying flat on the ground; at lower altitudes a fine, large tree.

Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxfolia), sometimes known as "red fir." Common at middle altitudes. Leaves blunt-tipped, about an inch long, flat and soft; bark dark and rough; cones scattered all over the tree, drooping from the branches, not falling apart when mature, with long, three-lobed bracts which project beyond the scales of the cone. Easily recognized by protruding bracts of the cones, a character found in none of our other evergreen trees. A large tree, the most important source of lumber in the West.

The spruces look much like the firs, but they have rigid sharp-pointed four-sided leaves (about 1 inch long) and thin, scaly, dark bark. The cones are borne near the top of the tree, and they droop from the branches; they do not fall apart when ripe.

Englemann spruce (Picea engelmannii), the most common spruce, growing with lodgepole pine and Douglas fir, at middle altitudes. Twigs smooth, not hairy; cones 1-1/2 to 2 inches long.

Rocky Mountain juniper or cedar (Juniperus scopulorum), common at low and middle elevations, on rocky slopes. Closely resembling the common red cedar of the East; leaves very small and scalelike, attached by 2's or 3's and closely appressed to the twigs; fruit blue and berrylike; bark brown, easily peeled off in long shreds. The Creeping juniper (Juniperus sibirica), which is common at middle altitudes, is closely related. It is only a low shrub with awl-like leaves half an inch long or shorter which spread from the twigs.

Aspen (Populus tremuloides), sometimes known as "quaking aspen" or "quaking asp." The only common broadleaf tree; frequent on moist slopes at lower altitudes. A small, slender tree; bark smooth, whitish; leaves rounded, finely toothed. The leaves are on such slender stalks that they are kept in motion by the least breath of wind.

Narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustfolia), occasional along streams at low altitudes. A large tree with rough, pale bark; leaves resembling those of a willow, narrow, sharp pointed. The small seed pods contain numerous seeds, each of which bears a tuft of white hairs or "cotton."

Red birch (Betula fontinalis), usually a shrub but sometimes a small tree, growing along streams. Bark smooth, brown; twigs sticky; leaves broad, sharp pointed, coarsely toothed; flowers in catkins; fruit a small cone, which falls apart easily. Alders also grow along streams, but they are shrubs, never attaining the dimensions of trees. They look much like birches, but can be distinguished by the fact that their fruit cones are hard and woody, and do not fall apart like those of a birch.

Alder (Alnus tenufolia), similar to birch; also found along streams; usually shrubby at high elevations; leaves more rounded; bark brownish-red to ashy gray; cones hard and woody, persisting during winter.

Fishing in Yellowstone Rapids. Haynes photo.

FISHING

To thoroughly enjoy the fishing of the Yellowstone National Park, waters as remote as possible should always be sought. Most of the streams and lakes in the park from timberline down to the lowest altitudes contain trout of one or more species, and a few contain whitefish and grayling. But the more accessible waters are fished so steadily by visitors that the trout become educated and wary. Back in the depths of the mountain fastnesses are fish that are much less disturbed and that can be caught more readily.

Fishing tackle may be purchased at the general store, near the hotel at Mammoth, and at the general stores at Old Faithful, Thumb, Lake, Fishing Bridge, Canyon Junction, and Tower Falls. It may be rented from the porters at the Old Faithful Inn and Grand Canyon Hotel, and from the Yellowstone Park Boat Co. at the Lake, Bridge Bay, and Fishing Bridge. At the various lodges of the Yellowstone Park Lodge & Camps Co. fishing tackle may be rented or purchased as desired.

NO FISHING LICENSE REQUIRED

The native fish of the park represent only a few species which have been supplemented by a number of others planted by the Government in barren waters. The species that now abound in the park comprise some of the best game fish. Persons planning to fish should provide themselves with the pamphlet entitled "Fishes of the Yellowstone National Park", by Hugh M. Smith and William C. Kendall, of the United States Bureau of Fisheries. This pamphlet contains a description of the park waters, a figure of each kind of fish in the park, together with notes on size, distribution, habits, game qualities, etc. It is a public document and is sold for 5 cents a copy. It may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., and in Yellowstone National Park at the Information Office, Mammoth Hot Springs, or the Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge Museums, but the latter offices cannot fill mail orders.